Festival to create awareness on conservation of orchid species

An orchid festival will be held in the sleepy town of Silapathar in Assam's Dhemaji district to create awareness on conservation and propagation of many orchid species of the state classified as endangered, organisers said.

The two-day orchid festival, coinciding with the Bihu festival of Assam in April, will display some rare species of orchids belonging to Assam, which boasts of the second-highest number of orchid species in India behind Arunachal Pradesh. Envisaged by the Orchid Society of Assam, a body formed in December 2018 to conserve the state flower 'kopou phool' (Rhynchostylis Retusa or the foxtail orchid), the festival will also bring together traders from all over India, including Kerala and Karnataka, president of the organisation Jitu Gogoi said.

The dates of the festival will be finalised on the sidelines of their first orchid workshop to be conducted at the Silapathar Science College on Sunday in order to create awareness on conservation and propagation of Assam's species, most of them classified as endangered. "We are expecting more than 3,000 people. Many people have already confirmed participation, we are expecting more to come. It's the blooming time of orchids here and it will be worth a visit and the festival of Bihu will make it doubly special," Gogoi, a Botany lecturer at the Silapathar Science College here, told PTI.

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"They will exhibit wild and rare orchids and some hybrid ones which will be up for sale. Local orchids that are tissue-cultured will also be sold. We will also award three people of the state who are doing outstanding work for orchid conservation of Assam, mainly Rhynchostylis retusa and variety alba (the white foxtail orchid).

"This will be an annual affair in the same date in every April, the blooming season for most of the orchids in Assam including our state flower 'Kopou Phool' (Rhy retusa)," Gogoi said. The festival will be held at their college ground in Silapathar, s small town in the Dhemaji district in upper Assam, just six kilometres off Arunachal Pradesh border.

A girl's attire during Bihu dance is not complete without kopou phool, worn as a hair ornament, but with heavy industralisation and deforestation the orchid is facing extinction and is listed as an endangered species. But the society formed just over a year ago hopes to spread awareness and keep the state's pride intact, Gogoi said.

The countdown for which will begin with the workshop on Sunday where three scientists from the Rain Forest Research Institute of Jorhat and state's well-known orchid expert Khyanjeet Gogoi, who himself has identified 35 species from Assam and discovered four new among them, are expected. "They will teach technique about how to conserve and propagate the orchids. We will give preferences to the rare and endangered species like Blue Vanda (Vanda coerulea) and Rhy Var Alba a highly endangered species."

"Khaynjeet Gogoi had conducted a workshop at his place but with the participation of the three scientist from Jorhat, Dr Bebija L Singha, Satyam Bordoloi, Prasanta Saikia, we hope the workshop will be highly successful," Gogoi said. The workshop is open to both students and faculties, while farmers and conservators are also expected as the OSA expects a gathering of about 100 people on Sunday.

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